


Sensory Overload

by Cbyrno521



Series: rA9 Will Save Us All [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Androids, Angst, Autism, Cold Hands, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Grocery Store, Hank tries his best, Hank wants to die by cereal, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Pet name, Post Revolution, Protective Connor, Riots, Scenting, Sensory Overload, Warm, good ending, human reader, nice hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 04:26:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15573738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cbyrno521/pseuds/Cbyrno521
Summary: He smelled like rain and pine trees, and felt like safety.---High Functioning Autism is a curse when you live in a city like Detroit.Triggers can be found anywhere at any time, and when you realize that you've got to go outside of the sanctuary of your home... well, you might as well have just signed yourself up for a nightmare._Are you a writer? Interested in multiple fandoms, such as Marvel, Dragon age, and more?Come join my discord! Everyone is welcome!https://discord.gg/fXBC3aD





	Sensory Overload

**Author's Note:**

> Some things about High Functioning Autism that I included in the story
> 
> • Improper/ few social interactions  
> • “Robotic” speech, often repetitive  
> • Lack of eye contact/ not being able to maintain it for long  
> • Awkward hand movements/ mannerisms  
> • Bad communication skills  
> • Hands gripping hair, to the point of ripping it out  
> • Tears. A lot of tears.

 

There were too many people.

 

You had arrived in the middle of a riot; people fighting about how androids took their jobs. They were shouting insults, merging together to form one giant mob of anger. Androids who were unfortunate and had to walk by were criticized, some of the crowd even going as far as to throw trash at the unsuspecting droids. You could only watch with bated breath and hope that things wouldn’t get physical.

 

This wasn’t your intention, to end up in the middle of the crossfire.

 

You just wanted to get paint and go home. You ran out about a week ago, but couldn’t find the motivation to go outside. However, you realized that you needed to get groceries anyways. So after a long conversation with yourself in the mirror (along with a few hours of crying) you decided to go out.

 

Everything was fine, at least for most of the walk. Things were going relatively smoothly, with You being able to avoid other eyes by looking at the trees, or even the few dogs that passed by. Detroit was beautiful, you had to admit. It helped you severely with distracting you from everything happening around you.

 

You had arrived at the small store, instantly grabbing a cart and heading for the cereal aisle.

 

And that’s where things started going downhill.

 

“Lieutenant, you should really consider getting a different brand. This is incredibly unhealthy and bad for your health.”

 

“Gah, get off my ass! If I wanna die by something, I want it to be by something pleasurable!”

 

The first voice was calm and collected, one that you couldn’t help but relax slightly to. It kind of reminded you of a sanctuary, somewhere you could run to when it felt like the whole world was against you. It was pleasurable to the ear, and you couldn’t help but think about how it sounded when put into a stressful situation. It felt to you as if he had an airy voice, where he was generally soft spoken, but had to force himself to be louder.

 

The second was more gruff. Firm. It brought back memories of your father and how when you were younger and undiagnosed, he would lower his voice in an intimidating way. (Because of this, lower voices still frightened you to this day. But you wouldn’t ever be able to admit that.)  However, this one specifically reminded you of all the times where your father would cuddle with you and read your favorite bedtime story. Overall, it was nice but definitely something you weren’t expecting.

 

What you _also_ weren’t expecting, was to run face first into someone as you rounded the corner.

 

“Ah, shit!”

 

You hit the ground, jarred. Mortification flooded through your veins, eyes widening and breaths stopping for a moment or two. You felt every point of connection from the floor. Your feet, butt, and hands were all stinging, but what was stinging the most was your dignity.

 

“I-i am so s-sorry, I w-was not looking a-and..” you wanted to punch yourself with how much you were stuttering and waving your arms around. Whoever you ran into was probably looking at you weirdly. The thought of causing a scene made your blood run cold, everything stopping for a short moment.

 

“It’s alright. Do you need help up?”

 

You finally managed to open your eyes, looking at the stranger. One of the first things you noticed is that it’s the person with the soothing voice. Up this close, you noticed that his voice sounded like he spoke more from the chest, his words resonating. The second thing you notice, is his face is just as intriguing. Sharp cheekbones along with light moles and freckles, you were enthralled. But the thing that called it for you were his eyes. You could practically see yourself in his warm chocolate gaze, everything in you stopping. However, you couldn’t look for long and instead noticed the LED on his temple.

 

It took longer than you realized for you to answer. In fact, you didn’t answer. Instead, you turned down his hand and awkwardly shuffled up using the side of your discarded cart, ignoring the overwhelming feeling that began to seep into your bones. You barely registered the other man there, or even that they were speaking to you. The only thing going through your mind was that you needed to _leave._

 

You turned and hightailed it outside, escaping everyone’s looks. Every time your feet hit the concrete you winced. You felt _too much._ The birds were too loud. The whistling of the wind going through Detroit was too loud. _The protestors were too loud._

 

And that’s how you found yourself having a sensory overload in one of the worst places available.

 

Your skin prickled with each foreign touch. Hell, even your clothes were too close to your body. You needed to get home, and _now._ A migraine made itself known, adding to the list of worries.

 

The people were ruthless in their shouting. You thought that just cutting your ears off would be better than this.

 

You tried walking by and ignoring them, you really did. But just your luck, someone catches the glistening in your eyes and draws attention to you.

 

“Hey! Y’ cryin with sympathy o’er these damn ‘droids?!”

 

And as if a bomb was set off, people were surrounding you.

 

All of their screams were now directed to you. You felt even more pushing and shoving, making your skin crawl like it was hit by fire. All you could do was stutter and try to defend yourself, tears flying everywhere and feeling like acid across your hot skin. Every laugh, every harsh syllable was burned into your mind, trying to fry it. Your hands shook as they grabbed onto the strands of hair, pulling. Although you could feel every follicle, the physical pain inflicted by yourself helped ground you in a twisted way,

 

There was nothing you could do.

 

Everything was too much.

 

Why did this have to happen to you?

 

You felt their words jumbled together. You could feel the heat off of their combined bodies. It sounded like they all were screaming in microphones, the speakers next to your ears. You were frozen, unable to do anything. Your knees shook, but you couldn’t fall. Nobody was touching you, but you could feel their presence.

 

Suddenly, a _bang._

 

It echoed throughout your mind, silencing everything for only a few milliseconds.

 

“Alright, break it up! Detroit police!”

 

You heard both everything and nothing at the same time. Something told you that people were running, even if you couldn’t see them. You were feeling light headed, not enough oxygen going through your lungs. There was more shouting, but significantly less.

 

There was a cold hand on you.

 

The feeling wasn’t unpleasant, but it certainly wasn’t nice either. The coldness grounded you in a sense, with how hot your body was. It was enough to jar you out of your current state for a few seconds, but at the same time there was someone _touching you._

 

Your eyes snapped to meet the eyes of the android from before. You couldn’t think of his name, (did you even learn it?)

 

His lips were moving, but you couldn’t hear him. His eyes wandered over your body, analyzing you. A glance around the area showed that the crowd was gone, with his partner waving a gun threateningly at the few people who tried to argue.

 

Your brain cleared slightly as you focued on the hand on your shoulder, gently bringing your shaking one to lay on top of it. That’s the only way you could convey your gratitude, even if the small action unnerved you slightly.

 

Things were becoming clearer, your mind numbing every part of your body. Everything you felt and heard all drained from your body slowly, leaving you feeling exhausted.

 

“-with me?”

 

There was that voice again. Cutting through the fog like a knife. You could only pick up on the last bit of the question, still coming down from your high. His partner tentatively came up, looking at your point of contact.

 

“-Wrong with her, Connor?”

 

You were trying to listen. You really were. But your knees finally gave out, falling to the ground. But right as you braced for impact, you felt two strong arms wrap around you. A sudden breath traveled through your lungs, filling them more in one go than they had been for the past ten minutes or so. You felt every single part of his arms on your body, protecting you. Slowly he adjusted you, so that you were looking at him with his arms wrapped around your shoulders and legs. He was still kneeled down, eyes roaming your body.

 

“...High functioning autism..-” His hand (You heard his name was Connor) went to your cheeks, wiping away tears. You followed the movement, feeling too tired to even attempt to move your body. Everything felt numb, except wherever he touched. It was like he was waking your senses up slowly, despite them being spent. “--Ory overload. They’re coming down now, however.”

 

His voice sounded pretty. Your earlier assumption of it being like a safe garden was correct, as it lulled you into a sense of safety.

 

You barely registered that you were being picked up, only finally coming to term with the thought when you felt your head being tucked into his neck. You inhaled out of fear, only to be intoxicated by the scent of rain and pine trees. Your body relaxed once more, feeling the gentle sway as he walked. _Why was everything about him so comforting?_

 

You heard a car door open, feeling yourself shift a bit as he climbed in. You couldn’t bring yourself to think about how scared you would be if you were in the right mindset. However, right now you felt drained physically and mentally, and the only thing you could do was slip into the realm of dreams and hope this android didn’t have any ill intentions.

You strongly doubted that he would. After all, all that he’s done is try to help.

 

“Everything will be alright, sunshine. Just sleep. You’re safe now.”

 

His words echoed throughout your silent mind, bringing a warm feeling to your chest. The car was silent, except for your shared breaths. It was a complete 180 from mere moments ago, but you greatly appreciated it.

 

You finally succumbed to slumber, dreaming of trees coated with rain on a sunny day.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Howdy!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this, I had a friend text me a while back saying she was upset that she couldn't find any stories about Autism. And I said "BET"
> 
> And here we are!
> 
> I had to do a lot of research on the topic of sensory overload, because I knew next to nothing about it. However, i'm glad with how this turned out. (Although, I would've been happier if it was longer lmao)
> 
> Please, leave a comment or two on your opinions! I would love to get your feedback on the matter :)
> 
> Thank you for reading this!


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